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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

US. JORDAN.

BUTTON HOLE SEWING MACHINE.

N0. 366,006. Patented July 5,- 1887.

I Q W mwww N PETERS Pholn-Lllhugmphcr. Wnshmglonl1 C,

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-$116962. O. S. JORDAN.

BUTTON HOLE SEWING MACHINE.

No. 366,006. Patented July 5, 1887.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 3,

(No Model;)

0. 3. JORDAN,

BUTTON HOLE SEWING MACHINE.

Patented July 5, 1887.

N PETERSv PholD-Lilhogmphcn Wnshmglmm D. C

(No Model.) 4' Sheets-Sheet 4.

C. S. JORDAN BUTTON HOLE SEWING MACHINE. No. 366,006. Patented July 5,1887.

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UNITED STATES FFICE PATENT CHARLES S. JORDAN, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y.,ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY OF NE\V JERSEY.

BUTTON-HOLE SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,006, dated July 5,1887.

Original application filed July 2, 1885, Serial No. 170,486. 'Dividedand this application filed April 7, 1887. Serial No. 234,051. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES S. JORDAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button-HoleSewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing bad therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates more particularly to that class of button-holesewing-machines in which the work-clamp is given a straightforwardfeeding movement to work one side of a button-hole, a semicircularfeeding movement for the purpose of working the eye of the button-hole,and then a second straight feeding movement to work the other side ofthe button-hole.

The object of my invention is to provide machines of the class referredto with mechanism whereby, when a button-hole has been otherwisecompleted, a bar or stay may be antomatically formed across the end ofthe said hole, and, also, when the said bar or stay has been formed themachine may be automaticall y stopped.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan viewofabutton-holesewing-machine with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2is an inverted plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevationshowing all of the parts of my improvement, but with most of theordinary operative parts of the machine removed. Fig. 4 is a broken planview of the machine with the plate removed to show the feed-spirals andmiddle feed-gear. Fig. 5 is a detailed view showing the form of thebrake-lever and wheel L for stopping the machine. Fig. 6 is a detailededgewise View of the lever h and arm j". Fig. 7 is an enlarged detailedperspective view of the preferred means for connecting bar h with thelever E. Fig. 8 illustrates a button-hole finished or barred by mymachine.

The stitch-forming mechanism, the mechanism for operatin g theneedle-bar a vertically, and the clamp I), for holding the goods inwhile a button-hole is to be worked, are or may be the same as in manybutton-hole sewing-machines now in use, and need not be particularlydescribed herein; and the mechanism for giving the needle bar a an outand in movement horizontally, consisting of the sliding bar (I, slottedlever (Z, pivoted stud e, and cam f, is also the same as in manywell-known -machines, and its special construction and action need notbe here more minutely described.

The plate A, instead of being held stationary on the bed B of themachine, is adapted to have a side or cdgewise movement to carry theclamp b and the goods held therein back and forth under the needle atright angles to the general direction of the feed. This sidereciprocation of the plate A alternates with the out-and-in motion ofthe needle-bar a, and this lengthens the laps or overlay of the stitch,and the reciprocations of the plate A take place only at the end orfinish of the button-hole, so that the overlay stitches bar thebutton-hole. The bed Bis cut away atg to form a clearance for the sidemove ment of plate A, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The motion forreciprocating the plate Ais derived from the cam O on the upright shaftD. This cam acts when the machine is in operation, and constantlyreciprocates endwise the rod E, held beneath the bed of the machine.

The movement of rod E reciprocates on its pivot e the lever E, with theend 0 of which, Fig. 2, the connecting mechanism H (which is attached toplate A below the bed B) is adapted to be engaged at the proper time, sothat the movement of the lever IE will draw the plate A one way.

The plate A is by preference moved back by a spring, F, acting betweenthe stud f on the under surface of the bed B and the pin f 2 on the barh of the said connecting mechanism H. The said connecting mechanism 11is caused to engage with and to be disengaged from the lever E bydevices connected with the back feedspiral, G, and lever h (shown inFig. 2 and in dotted lines in Fig. 1,) which devices are caused tooperate at the proper time by the bar h by screws passing through theplate and through slots at m in bed B, Fig. 4, and enteringscrew-openings made in said bar, or in screw-openings made in the blocksh h, Figs. 2 and 4, which latter are screwed to the sides of the bar hby screws h 'h Pivoted to the inner end of bar h is the short plate hFig. 2. This is connected by rod h Fig. 2, to one end of thelever Ir,theiuner end of which is constantly drawn toward the bar h by the springh, attached to the pinv f and to the said lever, so that this springacts through lever b and rod h" to naturally hold the small pivotalplate 7L3 swung away from the end of the lever E. Upon the same pivotthat holds the small pivotal plate h ispivoted above the plate h theconnecting plate or latch h which is adapted to engage with the notchedend 6 of the lever E, and this latch h swings independently of plate7L3, so that it may accommodate itself to the are described by the endof lever E when reciproeated, thus avoiding binding of the parts andunnecessary friction.

The latch It also facilitates the connection with the lever E, as it isconstantly pressed forward against a stop, a, on plate h by a smallspring, h,so that it will yield to pressure of the lever E and permitthe latter to pass the latch in its backward movement. The stop 6 is tocause thelatch h to be held always in proper position and cause it to beforced away from the end of the lever E when the lever h is operated tomove the small plate h outward away from the lever E.

From the above it will be understood that the lever it controls thedevices that connect the plate A with the power for reciprocating it,and this lever h as. above mentioned, is operated by the feed, or ratherthe feed and spring h so that the connection of the plate A with and itsdisconnection from its operative power will be effected automaticallyand always at the proper time, or at the finish of the button-hole. 1

The lever if is operated as follows: It is fulcrumed on the pin or screwj, and has formed upon or connected to its upper surface about midway ofits length, by the screw the upwardly-projecting angle-arm j Figs. 4 and6,

which reaches up through an opening, j*, Fig.

2, in the bed B, so as to stand near the periphery of the backfeed-spiral, G, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. The upper end of the arm jis formed or provided with a side projection or lug, j so that aprojection or plate, F, on the edge of the feed-spiral G will strike itas the spiral revolves and press the upper end of the arm forward, whichmovement will draw the lever h forward toward the center of the machine,causing the latch h to connect with the permit the arm j to be shiftedaway from the flange 2', the shoulder j entering the openingj. In thismanner the forward end of the plate F will be permitted to pass the lugjand the outer edge of the plate will hold the shoulder j in the openingj, so there can be no backward movement of the armj until the feedpin 0is removed from the feed-spiral G, and in this manner the arm j does notinterfere with the slow forward movement of the feedspiral G at the timethe barring-stitches are being formed. When the feed-pin c is removedfrom the spiral G,the plate F is free to move inward, so that the springh will act to draw the lever If and arm 3 back to their originalposition, disconnecting latch 7L7 from lever E. The projection or flangei, which impinges against the lugj, isin this instancea part or theouter edge of a sliding plate F fitted in a cut-away place, i, in theupper surface of the spiral G. The entire edge of this plate F, thatconstitutes the projection or flange his of considerable length, whichgoverns the length of time that the latch h is held in connection withthe lever E. The inner edge of the plate F is the arc of a true circle,and the plate is formed with the curved finger 1 that laps along theouter edge of groove 9 of the spiral G, the upper surface of the saidspiral being cut away at t" for that purpose.

The outer edge of the finger t is straight, to fit the straight edge ofthe cut-away place i and the plate F is slotted, as shown at Z, to fitover studs or stop-pins Z, to limit its sliding out and in radialmovements. The inward movement of the plate F is to permit theprojection or flange i from coming in contact with the arm 7' while themachine is stitching the button-hole, and this movement is caused by thesmall arm or spring i attached to the inner surface of the arm whichspring bears upon the outer edge of the plate F, to push it inwardbefore it reaches the lug j so that the plate will pass said lug atevery revolution of the feed-spiral G until the hole is to be barred, atwhich time the plate will be moved outward by the feed-pin a,notwithstanding the pressure of the spring (See Fig. 4.)

The outward movement of the plate F is I caused by the feed-pin cstriking the inner curved edge, W, of the plate or coming between theedge and the curved edge of the feedspiral, and is for the purpose ofcausing the projection or flangei to strike the arm 9" or projection jthereof, for connecting the mechanism H with the lever E to reciprocateplate A, as just described.

The groove in the feed-spiral G is spiral throughout, except at g,opposite to the curved edge i of the plate F. At this point, 9, thegroove is'formed on a true circle concentric with the said curved edge1' of the plate F. In this manner,while the plate F is in contact withthe feed-pin c and while the edge i is in contact with the arm j andplate A is being reciproeated, the clamp 12 and the goods held thereinwill remain at rest on plate A, so that 'placed loosely upon the shaftM.

the barring-stitches will be collect-ed or piled one upon the other,forming a perfect barring without distributing the stitches along thegoods at the end of the button-hole, as would be the case if the feedwere permitted to continue at the time the barringstitches were beingput in.

The plate A (see Fig. 1) is not held fast by the platescrews a a; butthe openings in the plate through which theypass are of sufficient sizeto accommodate the stitch or edgewise re ciprocation, as will beunderstood from the dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The front feed-spiral, G, and middle gear, G", are the same and operatedthe same as in many well-known buttonhole machines, and need nodescription here. i

In order to stop the machine automatically when the staying or barringof the button hole is completed, I attach to the machine the stop orbrake mechanism next to be described, and arranged to be put in actionby the reciprocating movement of the plate A, the same beingaccomplished by means of the bar J, Figs. 2 and 3, spring J, placedthereon to constantly press the bar J to the left, the arm J attached tothe under surface of the plate A, to reach down through the opening Bof,

the bed 13, and bent to act against the end of bar J, and the pawl J andspring J, attached to outer end of the bar J for operating the lockingpawl or trigger K, (shown clearly in Fig. 3,) and for purposes below described.

L is the brake-wheel, fixed upon the main driving-shaft M, and N is thehand-wheel, The wheel L is grooved at its inner face, as shown at m,Figs. 3 and 5, in such a manner as ,to form an eccentric, m, and at theouter surface it is by preference provided with a rubber or leatherfacing, 0, against which the flat inner face, N, of the wheel N isadapted to be pressed by the lever P for the purpose of clutching thewheel N with the wheel L and revolving the same and shaft M foroperating the machine. The lever P is a bent or curved lever centrallyfulcrumedona pin at the outer end of the arm P, formed upon or attachedto the rear surface of the upper portion, 13, of the frame of themachine, and said lever P is attached to the hub n of the hand-wheel Nby a claw, p, the members of which enter a small circumferential groove,it, made in this hub 12, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, so that the leverwill not interfere with the free revolution of the hand-wheel, and byoperating said lever I on its fulcrum the hand-wheel N may be made toengage with or be disengaged from the wheel L for operating orstoppingthe machine. The lower end of the lever P is held by spring 12 inconstant contact with a cam or to it at one end the heavy torsionalspringiR,

upon the shaft M, and thus disconnect the I power from the machine,leaving the machine free to be stopped, while the power runs on.

At the time the band-wheel N is disengaged from or moved out of contactwith the wheel L a brake or (in this instance) adouble-actingbrakelever, S, is applied to the wheel L for instantly stopping thismotion of the machine.

The brake-lever S is applied by a cam or toe, 8, formed on thetransverse shaft" Q, said too being arranged to lift the vertical rod S(to which the lever S is pivoted) at the time the cam or eccentric q ismoved off from tlhe lower end of the lever P by the action of,the springR. The vertical rod S is constantly pressed downward by a spring, S",placed thereon to act between the head 8 and the bearing 8" in which therod is held. I

The end of the transverse shaft Q opposite to that to which the. springR is applied is provided with the lever Q, by which the shaft Q may beturned to the left, (to the position shown in full-and dotted lines inFig. 3,) in which position another toe, s, on shaft Q is held by thepawl or trigger K, above mentioned, which holds the shaft Q against thetension of the spring P. In this position of the shaft Q the brake-leverS is lowered out of contact with the wheel L, and the wheel N is held infirm contact with the outer surface of, said wheel L by lever P and camor eccentric (1, so that the power applied to revolve wheel N willrevolve the main drivc'shaft M.

The pawl or trigger K is pivoted upon stud t, and is provided with threenotches, t, at its lower end, with which the above-mentioned pawl J,attached .to rod J, is adapted to eni the machine is to be put in gearfor operating,

the pawl J is held out of contact with the notches t of the pawl K bymeans of a small plate, i placed above the outer end of the pawl J, sothat it will not interfere with the necessary backward movement of thelower end of the trigger K to cause the hook t at the upper end of thetrigger to pass fully over the toe s The plate t is fixed'to the frameof the machine, and thus, being stationary, it serves as a guard to keepthe pawl j away from the notched pawl or trip K, except when the rod Jis moved farenough to the right, Fig. 3, to permit the curved outer endof the pawl J to be pushed upward above the said plate Thus the innernotches of the pawl or trip K are not acted on by the operating-pawl Jun til they are successively forced outward by the said operating-pawl.

The hook t is made of considerable length, so a relation will existbetween the hook, the length of the trigger, and the distance of theside movement of the plate A, so that one, two, or three movements ofthe plate A will be required to move the hook i off from the toe s. Inthis manner, when the plate A causes thclast barring-stitch to be put inthe button-hole,the trigger K will disengage the toe s and cause themachine to stop just at the proper time.

The brake-lever S is bent to form two arms,

s an d s, the former of which runs in the groove m of the wheel L, whilethe latter is adapted to run in contact with the outer surface of thesaid wheel L. \Vhen the shaft Q, is turned to the position shown in fulllines in Fig. 3 and held by the trigger K, the rod S will be lowered, asabove described, and this will lower 7 the brake-lever S, so that thearms 8 s will not be in contact with-the wheel L; but when the shaft Qis released by the trigger K and turned by the action of the spring Rthe rod S will be forced upward by toe s of the brakelever S intocontact with the eccentric m of the wheel L,-which eccentric will pressdownward this arm s and bring the arm 8" into firm contact with theouter surfaceof the wheel L and cause the machine to stop in less thanone complete revolution of the wheel L after the application of thebrake.

I do not claim in this application the needle-bar a and means forreciprocating it vertically and means for giving it an in-and-outmotion, in combination with the plate A and means for reciprocating itedgewise at right angles to the line of feed and alternately to thein-and-out movement of the needle-bar for in creasing the length of theoverlay-stitches formed by the in-and-out motion of the said needle-barfor barring the button-hole; or the needle bar and means forreciprocating it vertically and means for giving it an in-and-outmotion, the plate A, the feed-spirals G G, clamp I). moved on the plateA by the feed-spirals in combination with means for reciprocating theplate A edgewise at right angles to the line of feed for increasing thelength of the overlay-stitches, and means for automatically stopping thefeed movement of the clamp while the plate A is being reciprocated forcausing the barring overlay-stitches to be piled one upon the other toperfectly bar the buttonhole; or the combination, with a work-clamphaving two straight feeding movements and a semicircular rotary feedingmovement between the same, of an automatic mechanism for reciprocatingsaid work-clamp across the line of the said straight feeding movementsto automatically bar a button-hole after it has been worked; or thecombination, with a needle-bar having an in-and-out or horizontalreciprocatplate A edgewise at right angles to the line of I the feed forincreasing thelength of the overlay-stitches formed by the iu-and-outmotion of the needle-bar a for barring a button-hole; or, in abuttonhole sewing-machine, the combinatien, with the needle-bar and itsoperating mechanism, of a work-clamp and a movable supporting-plate forthe said work-clamp, provided with a guiding-slot having straight andcurved portions, asshown, and being adapted to be reciprocatedtransversely to the longitudinal movements of the said clamp when theend of the buttonhole is reached for the purpose of barring said hole;or, in a button-hole sewing-machine, the combination,with aworkclamphaving a straight movement to permit one side of a button-hole to beworked,aturning or rotary movement to permit the eye of the button-holeto be-worked, and a second straight movement to permit the other side ofthe button-hole to be worked, of a movable plate by which the saidwork-clamp is supported and mechanism for automatically reciprocatingsaid plate horizontally to bar the button-hole at the completion of theworking of the second side of the latter, these features of my inventionbeing embraced by my application No.' 170,486, filed July 2, 1885, ofwhich this application is a division.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent.-

1. The back feedspiral, G, provided with a flange arranged to be movedby the guide-pin of the cloth-clamp, the plate A, connecting mechanism11, and the reciprocating lever E, in combination with means,substantially as described, for operating the connecting mechanism Hfrom the feed-spiral flange for c0nnecting the plate with anddisconnecting it from the power to move it edgewise, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination, with the plate A and means for reciprocating itedgewise at right angles to the line of feed, of the clothclamp b,feed-pin c, and feed-spiral G, formed with the true curve 9 for stoppingthe feed at the time the plate A is reciprocated, substantially asdescribed.

3. The feed-spiral G, formed with the true curve 9' and provided withthe sliding plate F, in combination with the plate A, clothclamp b,feed-pin c, and means, substantially as described, for reciprocating theplate A edgewise at right angles to the line of feed, substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

4. The lever 7L5, provided with the arm j",

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the flange attached to the feedspiral G, the rod h, spring h, connectingmechanism 11, and springF, in combination with the reciprocating rod Eand lover E, all arranged to operate substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

5. The plate A and means for reciprocating it edgewise at right anglesto the line of the feed for lengthening the overlay-stiteh at the finishof the button-hole'for barring the button-hole, in combination withautomatic brake mechanism and rods connecting the brake mechanism withthe plate A, so that its edgewise reciprocation will release the brakemechanism, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. Thecombination, with the automatic brake mechanism applied to themachine for stopping it at the completion of the barring of thebutton-hole, of the plate A, the clamp I), feedpin 0, feedspiral G,means for reciprocating the plate A edgewise at right angles to the lineof the feed, and means for connecting the plate A to the brakemechanism, so that the side reciprocation of the plate A will releasethe brake mechanism when the barring of the but ton-hole is completed,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The transverse shaft Q, provided with the spring R, cam or eccentricq, and toes s and s, the lever P, the band-wheel N,opcrated thereby, thevertical rod S, the brake S, the wheel L, and the pawl or trip K, hookedat one end and notched at the other, in combination with thereciprocating plate A, the rods J and J and the pawl J all arranged tooperate substantially as set forth.

8. The connecting mechanism H, the lever 7z,connected therewith andprovided with the arm j, extending up through the bed of the machine andhaving opposite projections or shoulders,j j, and the bed-plate B,havingthe recess or opening j, combined with the re oiprocating plate A andthe feed spiral or cam G, provided with the sliding plate F,substantially as set forth.

9. The combination, with the drivingshaft, of the wheel L, attachedthereto and having the cam or eccentric m, the two-armed brakelever S,and mechanism for throwing the said lever into action to stop themachine when the drivingwheel is unclutched, substantially as set forth,

10. In a buttonhole sewing-machine, the

combination, with a supporting-plate, as A, loosely attached to thebed-plate of the machine and provided with a guiding-slot havingstraight and curved portions, as shown, of a work-clamp having anoperating-pin, as c, a feed-spiral or cam-wheel, as G, for moving saidpin and work-clamp, and mechanism, substantially as described, adaptedto be thrown in operation by the said pin for reciprocating said platewhen the last side of the button-hole is completed, substantially as setforth.

11. In a button-hole sewingmachine, the combination, with a work-clamphaving two straight movements and asemicircular rotary movement betweenthe same, of a movable plate by which the said work-clamp is supported,mechanism for automatically reciprocating said plate to bar thebutton-hole after the latter has been worked, and mechanism forautomatically stopping the machine when the bar is completed,substantially as set forth.

12. In a button-hole sewing-machine, the combination, with thedriving-shaft and the work-clamp, of the reciprocating supportingplateA, by which the latter is carried and by which the barring ofthcbutton-hole is effected,

a clutch mechanism for applying power to the said shaft, a brakemechanism for stopping said shaft when the power is disconnectedtherefrom, and a tripping mechanism operated from said reciprocatingplate and adapted to disconnect saidclutch mechanism and apply the braketo stop the machine after a predetermined number of reciprocations ofsaid plate A, substantially as set forth.

13. In a button hole sewing-machine, the combination, with a work-clamphaving two straightfeeding movements and a semicircular rotary feedingmovement between the same, of an automatic mechanism for reciprocatingsaid work-clamp across the line of the said straight feeding movementsto bar a buttonhole after it has been worked, and mechanism forautomatically stopping the machine when the bar is completed,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES S. JORDAN.

Witnesses:

J. G. GREENE, S. A. BENNETT,

